Angry words: What goes around comes around

This is a simple, concrete lesson to illustrate the power of anger to travel from one person to another and to linger in the environment even after the immediate emotion is gone. Strategies for coping with angry feelings are shared.

A lesson plan for grades K–5 Guidance

By Judy Lavore

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• understand the power of angry words to influence the quality of their personal relationships and their human environment.
• identify ways to cope with angry feelings.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

45 minutes

Materials/resources

• Andrew’s Angry Words by Dorothea Lachner
• Plastic resealable bag with “Angry Words” written outside
• Yarn ball saturated in strong smelling dusting powder
• Index cards with situations written which would trigger angry words.

Pre-activities

Ask the students to think about a time when they used words to express angry feelings and what happened. Tell them we will be talking about this today.

Activities

1. Introduce the book Andrew’s Angry Words by Dorothea Lachner.
2. Read the book. Tell the students that you are like Andrew and have brought in your own “Angry Words.” Hold up the labeled bag with the yarn ball inside. These words are so angry that they are kept confined in this bag, but for today they are going to behave and cooperate with the class. They are going to be a teaching tool so that we can experience the effect they have on us and our environment.
3. Carefully take out the yarn ball saturated in a strong smelling powder. Ask the students, “What do you notice? Has the environment changed in some way?” Talk about the fact that I am the only one with the “angry words,” yet they notice that something is different in the atmosphere. My “angry words” have an impact on their classroom.
4. Pass the yarn ball around so that each student touches it. Point out that even after the “angry words” leave them, a residue remains on their hands. How is this like angry words in reality? Even after we feel better and/or say we are sorry, a residue remains. Things do not quickly return to the way they were. Trust has been nicked and it takes time to heal. Point out that angry words between just a couple of people can have an impact on a whole classroom (or household) just like the scent from my “angry words.”
5. Divide the students into small groups and pass out the index cards with situations which can lead to angry words. Tell them they are to discuss their situation and brainstorm ways to avoid using angry words. They should come up with three possible solutions (five to seven minutes).
6. These are shared with the entire class.

Closure

• Review the lesson.
• Review the solutions discussing pros and cons.
• Emphasize the ones most likely to succeed.

Assessment

• Go around the room and have students identify the solutions that would work best for them.
• Feedback from the teacher regarding decrease in behaviors leading to angry words.
• Feedback from teachers regarding use of identified strategies.
• Ask the children to identify the strategies as a review before starting the next lesson.

Supplemental information

Comments

The success of this lesson is dependent on identifying relevant situations likely to cause angry words. It also requires the teacher to have fun pretending and making parallels from the activities with the “stinky yarn ball.” This lesson can work across grade levels with slight modifications.